PKI: 4-10-04

Woody

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 9:26 PM

Two years ago, one of my friends and I visited PKI in June and had a great day, lapping every major coaster in double digits. This was just another great day.

No lines to speak of on the park's second day of operation. The landscape was in good condition awaiting the annuals that fill the gardens around the park. One of the major finds is the amount of hard working ride ops that have surfaced in Cincy. They finished the rides with a smile and worked hard not to stack the trains. And onto the rides....

Ahhhh yes.....the Beast. Still, in my opinion, my favorite ride in the park. Though heavily braked and lacking the old punch in the back section, the harsh helix at the end is still my favorite element on a woody that I have ridden. The trees have yet to bud in the back and you can see the entire course running in the sticks, which I have to say was a thrill to finally see with my own eyes the entire layout.

Vortex: OUCH! My GOSH, what happened to this thing. I told my wife to sit and wait to let me check how it's running......and boy am I glad she did. I love the boomerang at the end, but what happened over the past two seasons....termites with sharp teeth?

FoF: Great ride! My wife thought it was rough, but this is a solid coaster. Racers were great, too! And Adventure Express is still the best mine ride besides Goldrusher at SFMM, in my opinion.

To Action Zone: We stuck around this section for a long time....why you ask? Well SoB, which was marked as "Closed for the day," was testing their only train that was on the track. They didn't open the line for another hour, which allowed me to hit Top Gun (a GREAT Arrow suspended coaster) 4 times, Drop Zone twice and the first surprise hit of the day....Delerium. WOW! This has become my favorite flat ride. Outstanding G's and great air time at the top of the swing. SoB finally opened, jumped in the 2nd seat and got pummelled into submission. Leaving the ride, a guy behind me said, "Man, that was great, I can just go home now, that's the best ride in the park." Uhmmm....yeah....call the chiropractor. The seats didn't get any more comfortable over the years and the ride is good, but harsh on anyone over the height of 6 foot.

The last surprise ended the day for us. We spent about two hours in the wonderful kiddie section of the park, and lapped Beast 4 more times. The kids section is the BEST of any park I have traveled to. The 4 mini coasters are very well done, especially Reptar, which my wife loved, and the rides and water area are special to watch on a hot day. But, the surprise was Scooby Doo's Haunted Castle. We rode it twice is was such great fun. Our on ride photo's were a scream because we were so intense on trying to beat each other at the game inside the ride and our faces proved it.

A great day and a long ride home to Toledo ended our great weekend getaway for the two of us. Easter day was spent with family while my wife, the newfound amusement park guru, spoke of PKI as her 2nd favorite park next to CP. She loved it, and so did I......just a great weekend.

Son of Beast Rocks

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 9:38 PM

awsome report.glad to hear u like dlirium and scooby doo.Yea Vortex I think has gotten pretty rough over the years also while SoB sounds like its rough for people over 6ft.Im not to tall and maybe thats why I like it better than others.I went the day before though and it was packed.